Angola's ruling MPLA party said it was on track to win a two-thirds parliamentary majority, based on its own numbers, as votes were still being tallied ahead of an expected release of official results later on Thursday. In Angola, political parties are allowed to observe the elections by posting party members at every polling station and by assimilating results, the parties attempt to foretell the election outcome. The People's Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA) calculated that after five million votes had been checked it was on course for a two-thirds majority, João Martins, MPLA secretary for political and electoral affairs, told reporters. However, the main opposition, National Union for the Total Independence of Angola (UNITA), said it had counted two million votes and the MPLA had won 47.6 per cent and UNITA 40.2 per cent. Lourenço has promised to focus on fixing Angola’s economy which has been devastated by the fall in the price of oil.

Source: The Star August 24, 2017 15:00 UTC